The Forum

The Forum is an 11-storey development on the site of the former Silver Blades ice rink in Birmingham city centre. The scheme, which is Birmingham’s first and largest purpose-built development for the private rented sector, comprises 334 apartments as well as retail and commercial space.

The Forum – the first development as part of Birmingham’s huge, ambitious and landmark Smithfield project – was launched recently, with a ceremonial concrete pour by city leaders.

Based on Pershore Street on the former Silver Blades ice rink site, although The Forum is not in Digbeth (yet), much of Smithfield will fall within our area once the redevelopment gains momentum. It goes without saying that The Forum and other early buildings will certainly flavour and influence future developments, and indeed, the success of the project overall.

The Forum comprises 5 studio, 262 one-bed and 67 two-bed apartments, and is set to complete in mid-2018. When it comes to new residential buildings, we in Digbeth tend to favour those that have a balanced mix of one, two and three-bedroom properties, to help encourage families and long-term living to build a community. However, we appreciate that not all developments in Smithfield will serve this purpose. The building will have 334 apartments available only for rent, in a US-style condominium arrangement.